My Name Is Crystal

"It all started one spring day when everything was going my way. I had a business and my life had a plan, till the day I decided to become a Meth man."

Those are the words of Mike Mock, a former Meth user.

Mike Mock's business was booming. His $200,000 construction company had seven houses going up at one time. All he wanted was to stay awake and make deadline.

Mock said, "He said, 'I've got something that will help you out,' and it all began from there."

Mock didn't do drugs and surely never thought he'd use methamphetamine. But in order to get his work done he needed a pick-me-up.

Mock said, "It makes you feel like Superman, and it'll keep you that way for a couple of weeks, but then you get to the point where you're just spinning around in circles and really making no progress."

Unfortunately, Mock's story is not one-of-a-kind. Meth use is spreading like wildfire across south Georgia.

Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue said, "It's a threat, a corrosive influence to all of Georgia."

Mock, like many others, gave into that influence and soon found out what a threat meth really is.

"I was locked up in a rehab for eight and a half months. ‘Course, I came right back out, it wasn't but three months later, I was right back on it," Mock said.

Brian Flemming works with the Lowndes County Drug Action Council and sees meth's grip tightening on south Georgians.

"Unfortunately, it's getting worse and worse as the years go because it's just so cheap and so easy to obtain and so easy to make."

All the ingredients needed to make meth can be found at your local drug store, and unfortunately, with the way information is available on the Internet these days, it's not hard to find a simple recipe to cook up a batch.

Cooking meth poses an even greater threat, not only to those making it, but to the innocent people nearby.

Keenan said, "Twenty five percent of meth labs are discovered after a fire or an explosion."

Perdue said, "You've got to be either a meth-head or an idiot to be around that kind of stuff!"

And now, after three years of being clean, Mock agrees.

"It's got an evil power! It will consume your every thought. It will consume everything about your life."

With the help of his family and his faith, Mock fought for his life and won. Now he offers this piece of advice.

"The best thing to do if anybody approaches you with it is run for your life!"

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